1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a half-timber frame for supporting a compartment element in accordance with the preamble of claim 1, wall elements for a like half-timber frame and a method for producing a compartment element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Half-timber construction has been employed for centuries to construct domestic buildings, wherein one half-timber frame interstice is formed by vertical members, transverse members (top member, bottom member) and possibly diagonal members and filled with suitable wall or compartment elements. Whereas the half-timber frame is designed with a view to static strength, the compartment elements are generally adapted for optimum thermal insulation. In old half-timber constructions these compartment elements were formed of clay/brick elements or other mineral construction materials.
Nowadays the half-timber construction method can still be found in wooden structures, with the half-timber frame being produced of solid wooden beams, whereas the compartment elements are commonly comprised of two panel-type sheathing layers spaced apart from each other, and the space between these sheathing layers being filled by loose fill or foamed insulation.
For producing the half-timber supports for the half-timber frame, beams representing the core wood of small-dimension timber are used, so that a certain minimum thickness of the log is required for obtaining a beam having the predetermined dimensions and the predetermined strength. To this end the external layers of the tree must be sawed off until the parallelepipedic base shape of the beam having smooth outer surfaces is obtained. This production method has the drawback of giving rise to considerable amounts of logging waste which, at best, is generally further comminuted and processed into chip boards or other low-quality products.
The half-timber frame construction method in its conventional form moreover requires careful drying of the hearwood of small-dimension timbers, because in the case of insufficiently dried half-timber supports there is a risk of their warping owing to variations of temperature and humidity, and of the half-timber walls consequently developing cracks.
It is a drawback of the compartment elements employed in the conventional half-timber frame construction method that only an inadequate strength may be obtained. In the cases of loose fill insulation and foam insulation the interstices may happen to be not filled entirely, whereby only an insufficient or non-uniform insulation effect can be obtained. In particular compartment elements containing loose filling material can subsequently be worked only at greatest difficulty because any cutting to the compartment element may bring about at least partial leaking of the filling material. It is another drawback of the known compartment elements that small animals, such as martens or small rodents, can penetrate into the space between the two sheathing layers.